I like Dominion. You like Dominion. Maybe you don't like Dominion, but I still like you. So why don't we have a Dominion tournament for the forums?

I'm taking a lot of inspiration from the Board Game Geek Dominion League, but I've never run something like this before, so bear with me.

For the first round, just as a trial run to get things familiarized, I'd create the bracket, use random.org to place everyone participating in it, and then we'd play! We'd play on dominion.isotropic.org (http://dominion.isotropic.org/), of course. :) I would also open up my TeamSpeak server to those who would want to voice chat while playing (and don't have Skype, but you can obviously use that too). All I ask is that if you do use my server, please register with your forum name so I know who's accessing it.

Depending on the level of interest, I would like run these on a regular basis, and am offering up a small prize to the winner of each bracket.

Here are some ground rules that I've come up with (and some which have been suggested to me):

In case it's not already obvious, only one-on-one matches against your opponent count. You can't count a win if there are other people playing as well. Also, make sure that the person you're playing against is aware that it's a tourney game.
Your match must be completed within 48 hours of that round's start. If you are unable to make your scheduled game, please let me know. If you would like to designate a replacement, I would be okay with this, but keep in mind that your replacement cannot be someone else who's in the tourney (you can't have a "good" person sub for you and then return to the game the next week) and that they will also replace you for the remainder of said bracket.
As far as deck/card selection goes: You have four (4) chances to generate a deck, and both parties must be in agreement over the random draw for the game to begin. If you cannot come to a consensus by the fourth draw, you must play that hand.
Deck/card selection part two: You can only reject a deck because of cards it includes, not because of cards it doesn't. For example, you can't reject a deck because it doesn't have a trashing card or any $4 cards. When you don't like the deck that was generated, make it clear to the other party why you are rejecting it, and for which card. We want to see how you'll play in any situation, not just situations where you can trash your way to high heaven!
To have proof of win/loss, you will post a link to the game log here in the thread, as well as who won and who lost. You don't have to put the score in there, because I know how to click a link.
There will be no rematches or "best two out of three" or anything. If you lost, you'll get the chance to try again soon enough!

If there are any other suggestions, please let me know. Otherwise, sign-ups begin now and will end... oh, on Thursday evening! Or if we reach sixteen people!

SIGNUPS ARE CLOSED FOR THIS SESSION.

The game has begun! The bracket can be found here (http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=378620), and the first matches need to be finished by 9pm Wednesday.

I'm in. I'm assuming 'Pirate Ship is broken in half' is a valid reason to reject a card set?

Stiv

11-02-2010, 07:36 PM

I'm in. I'm assuming 'Pirate Ship is broken in half' is a valid reason to reject a card set?

It sounds like as long as the other person agrees that Pirate Ship is bullshit (probability: 99.9%) then yes.

I will play Dominion with people online in a tournament-like setting, considering that I already play it online enough.

Luana

11-02-2010, 07:37 PM

I'm in. I'm assuming 'Pirate Ship is broken in half' is a valid reason to reject a card set?

You don't even have to say why! I figure that the likelihood of Pirate Ship getting drawn four times is low, so that gives you the out you need.

Red Hedgehog

11-02-2010, 08:22 PM

This sounds great and I'm in.

Though I love Dominion with 3-4 players so we should totally play plenty of that as well.

Luana

11-02-2010, 08:44 PM

This sounds great and I'm in.

Though I love Dominion with 3-4 players so we should totally play plenty of that as well.

You can usually find a group who's willing to play almost any night. Maybe even tonight!

fugu13

11-02-2010, 09:33 PM

I'm in, why not.

Lucas

11-02-2010, 09:36 PM

Is this a thing where you have to play through the game in one sitting, or do you just get an email when its your turn like most online boardgames?

shivam

11-02-2010, 09:37 PM

you play through in a sitting. goes by hella quickly. games take at worst 30 min.

widdershins

11-02-2010, 09:48 PM

I'm in.

gahitsu

11-03-2010, 02:32 AM

me me me me me

Luana

11-03-2010, 12:17 PM

List updated! I'm excited to see how this comes together!

gahitsu

11-03-2010, 04:10 PM

I AM GETTING MY PRACTICE ON!

/pees self in excitement

gahitsu

11-03-2010, 04:13 PM

I'm in. I'm assuming 'Pirate Ship is broken in half' is a valid reason to reject a card set?

Noooo Pirate Ship is crazy fun.

I made mine worth 13g last night! SO CRAZY SO FUN

Issun

11-03-2010, 04:27 PM

I would love to participate. Unfortunately, my schedule often precludes setting Date/Time/etc. for online things, so I'll have to pass.

For Luana's sake, though, I'll just get this out of the way:

OMGSecritchamberzROFLCopter!!!!

There. Now no one will ever mention those ever again.

gahitsu

11-03-2010, 04:31 PM

I would love to participate. Unfortunately, my schedule often precludes setting Date/Time/etc. for online things, so I'll have to pass.

For Luana's sake, though, I'll just get this out of the way:

OMGSecritchamberzROFLCopter!!!!

There. Now no one will ever mention those ever again.

I have no idea what this is in reference to, but I will be sure to spam it when my time arrives!

gahitsu

11-03-2010, 05:17 PM

I'm doing some practice right now with a friend if anyone is interested.

Red Hedgehog

11-03-2010, 06:39 PM

We should probably have a hardcore awesome thread for this, but I am currently connected and looking for a game (preferably 3-4 player, but I'll do whatever).

Luana

11-03-2010, 09:15 PM

Actually, do you think I should move this to Hardcore Awesome, or at least put up a post there linking to this? I couldn't decide where the tourney should go, so I put it in meatspace so that way other board gamers would be more likely to see it.

shivam

11-03-2010, 11:02 PM

just leave it here. the people who are interested will be looking here anyway.

fugu13

11-03-2010, 11:05 PM

Yeah. I don't go in any of the gaming forums other than meatspace.

tungwene

11-04-2010, 01:25 AM

Sign me up!

Red Hedgehog

11-04-2010, 03:09 PM

Actually, do you think I should move this to Hardcore Awesome, or at least put up a post there linking to this? I couldn't decide where the tourney should go, so I put it in meatspace so that way other board gamers would be more likely to see it.

I actually meant there should be a Hardcore Awesome Forever thread just for people who want to play pick-up games of Dominion online.

But yeah, this should probably go there or be cross-posted there too.

Luana

11-04-2010, 11:32 PM

Well, as it stands, we have ten people. I'm going to extend signups for one more day in hopes that I can get a few more bodies to even things out. If not, then what'll probably happen is that two people will get byes into the second round, and then we'll have two three-person matches to determine who plays in the final round. I would prefer to have two fivers to start (with the top two from each advancing to the next round), but scheduling that could be tricky, what with jobs and life and such.

If you can think of a few more guys who'd like to get in on this, have them sign up! I'd prefer a sixteen person thing but that's kind of wishful thinking at this point.

shivam

11-04-2010, 11:34 PM

someone ought to tell tomm.

pence

11-05-2010, 07:49 AM

I'm in for Dominion times.

MrBlarney

11-05-2010, 08:47 AM

I don't know how much time I have, but I can try to fill in if you need to keep things even-numbered.

And I guess you're making this single-elimination? With this small of a group of people, why not make it a swiss-style tournament? Or if you're feeling even more ambitious, a round-robin league of games followed by a playoffs. Alright, so the last one is getting away from the clean snappiness of the original idea, but the swiss-style idea doesn't seem too bad to me.

Necronopticous

11-05-2010, 09:32 AM

Count me in.

Luana

11-05-2010, 10:33 AM

What-- but I-- excuse me--

I'm so sorry, Nich! How could I have missed you? If I could give you two slots as penance... well, I wouldn't, because I could. But know that I feel bad.

Anyway, two to go until we're full up! Thanks for the Hardcore Awesome suggestion, Red Hedgehog!

Luana

11-05-2010, 10:26 PM

I don't know how much time I have, but I can try to fill in if you need to keep things even-numbered.

And I guess you're making this single-elimination? With this small of a group of people, why not make it a swiss-style tournament? Or if you're feeling even more ambitious, a round-robin league of games followed by a playoffs. Alright, so the last one is getting away from the clean snappiness of the original idea, but the swiss-style idea doesn't seem too bad to me.

Well, I would like to do that, but it would be a nightmare to schedule. It'll be easier for two-player rounds to be worked out between those participating, and since I'm going to go ahead and close signups to do the bracketing, two lucky people will just end up bye-d to the second round. It is what it is!

Red Hedgehog

11-06-2010, 06:27 AM

I would vote for Swiss-style tournament too. It gets around the bye issue, lets people play more games, and is just a better tournament style.

Luana

11-06-2010, 10:23 AM

Okay, I guess I misunderstood the way a Swiss-system tourney was run. If anything, I would be more partial to using a double-elimination setup, so that way two losses would boot you. Also, this is only the first of many of these, so I'm still learning!

I'll put it up to a vote, which'll close on Sunday evening. Until then, I'll extend signups for that one day, because I've already got interest from another person that I just need to confirm, which'll leave us only needing one more.

MrBlarney

11-06-2010, 10:27 AM

Yeah, I don't see how a Swiss Tournament would be much more difficult to schedule than a traditional Single-Elimination Tournament, again because we've only got 14 players to worry about. Each round is still 1v1 matchups of players of same/similar records and each pair can organize a time to play on their own. Heck, I'm more than happy to help out in organization if desired.

EDIT: Looks like I was beat. I'm a big fan of tournament systems, so maybe how about trying some sort of 'balanced' Double Elimination Tournament if we go that direction? (Kind of like this (http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff4/MrBlarney/TournamentTemplates/BalancedDoubleElimination-16players.gif))

rkdn42

11-06-2010, 06:02 PM

If absolutely no one else wants to step in that final position, I would like to...But only if no else steps up, since I'm gone for work from 8:30am - 11pm Pacific weekdays, which would make scheduling very difficult, especially with East Coasters.

It might be an easy win for an opponent anyway, since I haven't played the game since Talcon 2010.

Luana

11-07-2010, 10:09 PM

Kind of like this (http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff4/MrBlarney/TournamentTemplates/BalancedDoubleElimination-16players.gif)

That's exactly what I was going to do, actually.

rkdn42, I'm going to try and confirm with mugenkokoro tonight and see if he wants to join in. If not, then we can go ahead with 14. If so, then I'd love to have you come in! Luckily, most of those who are playing are West Coasters, so scheduling will (hopefully) not be too much of an issue.

OFFICIAL bracket will be up tomorrow!

Luana

11-08-2010, 01:44 PM

Okay, so I'm updating the main post with this info, and I should have PMed you all, but the game is afoot!

The bracket is here (http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=378620) if you're curious, and it is going to be a double-elimination setup. With shivam and Stiv, it's a special case because both the winner and the loser will get bye'd up a considerable distance since we only have fourteen players. It was the way the random.org rolled, guys!

You have until 9pm on Wednesday, November 10 to complete your first match! Have fun, guys!

gahitsu

11-08-2010, 05:27 PM

I'm confussled. The winner of game seven would pair off with the winners of game eight, but I see that there's no pairup listed for eight. Would shivam or Stiv just automatically pass up to the next round?

Luana

11-08-2010, 05:32 PM

I'm confussled. The winner of game seven would pair off with the winners of game eight, but I see that there's no pairup listed for eight. Would shivam or Stiv just automatically pass up to the next round?

Yes, that's how it'd happen. They'd get bye'd in their respective areas. I thought it would be more fair than bye-ing them both through the winner's bracket.

gahitsu

11-08-2010, 05:33 PM

Yes, that's how it'd happen. They'd get bye'd in their respective areas. I thought it would be more fair than bye-ing them both through the winner's bracket.

Alrighty! Sorry, I'm not familiar with how sports brackets work; I see now you talked about them being bye'd, but I didn't know what it meant. And now I do! : D

Red Hedgehog

11-08-2010, 08:06 PM

I'm confussled. The winner of game seven would pair off with the winners of game eight, but I see that there's no pairup listed for eight. Would shivam or Stiv just automatically pass up to the next round?

Answer my PM!

Necronopticous

11-08-2010, 08:59 PM

Good game, man. You got screwed by those Sea Hags early on. That's hard to recover from in a game with no trashing cards.

shivam

11-08-2010, 10:30 PM

stiv beat me in a game that was a lot closer than the final score reflects =)

Stiv

11-08-2010, 10:51 PM

Seriously. Until Shivam drew a bad Tactician hand right at the very end, it was a very back-and-forth game. Forgot to set it as a league game, which we should probably be doing, but here (http://hatsex.magicweasel.net/game222908.html) is the log for you to enjoy.

Luana

11-08-2010, 11:09 PM

Congrats, spineshark! It was really close (http://www.myportmanteau.com/dominion/game6580_spine.htm), and if you wouldn't have bought that last province, I had $8 in my hand at the ready. :D

Bracket is updated!

spineshark

11-09-2010, 12:44 PM

I felt like that was a really lucky setup for me, though I should've bought the Merchant Ship first. For one thing, obviously just the existence of Chapel when I had 5/2 was a big deal, but Great Hall also quelled my usual worries about trashing my starter Estates in a two-player game (because I've had games where the other person gets half the provinces in a two-player game despite not doing so, so I lose by 1-3 points). It was either going to come down to Great Halls or not, and fortunately for me, it didn't. Still a really close game though, I wasn't actually sure if buying that Province would win me the game.

Really, I think my next step is to start doing better at actually keeping track of what I have, particularly when it comes to money. My usual style is to get all the money and actions I think I'm going to need, then try to buy Victory Cards as much as possible once I'm done preparing. (Occasionally I'll try to get one early though, if I think it'll make the other players squirm, or there's something like Explorer to benefit from) But I don't always know how much that is - I'll just do whatever I feel like, and hope it works, like this silly game (http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201011/08/game-20101108-223627-f6632c32.html.gz) last night where I intentionally trashed or gave away half the provinces.

gahitsu

11-09-2010, 01:00 PM

But I don't always know how much that is - I'll just do whatever I feel like, and hope it works, like this silly game (http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201011/08/game-20101108-223627-f6632c32.html.gz) last night where I intentionally trashed or gave away half the provinces.

You woulda won that game solidly, even without splitting up the provinces like that. O:

spineshark

11-09-2010, 01:03 PM

Well yeah, if I'd done something "strategic" like running out three stacks. My deck ground to a halt though because as you can see, I had almost no money. I was relying completely on peddlers, and once I couldn't draw 8 of them in a row, things got really hard.

Also, I wasn't even sure initially that the Talisman -> Peddlers thing would work in the first place, so from the start I'd signed myself over to a completely experimental strategy.

gahitsu

11-09-2010, 01:38 PM

Well yeah, if I'd done something "strategic" like running out three stacks. My deck ground to a halt though because as you can see, I had almost no money. I was relying completely on peddlers, and once I couldn't draw 8 of them in a row, things got really hard.

Also, I wasn't even sure initially that the Talisman -> Peddlers thing would work in the first place, so from the start I'd signed myself over to a completely experimental strategy.

Ah, well that makes sense then, gotchya.

fugu13

11-09-2010, 08:24 PM

Tungwene wins (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7318294/tungwene.html)

By one point. I'm going to blame the 2/5 start being inferior to the 4/3 with that set of cards ;) .

tungwene

11-09-2010, 08:26 PM

Oh you had plenty of chance to try to catch up, like that one turn where I accidentally thought I could Throne Room a Contraband. :p

fugu13

11-09-2010, 08:29 PM

And I had seen your hand from a Bureaucrat, and even said you were going to throne room the Treasury :P

It wasn't likely to make a difference, since I chose Province for Contraband (since I knew you had enough). Just one more money. Well, the one more card could have been something, but it could also have been a victory point card. Pay more attention in the future :P

I should have been counting VP at the end and bought a duchy in the hopes you wouldn't be able to get a province, since even with the last province buy I lost.

Luana

11-09-2010, 09:25 PM

Okay, bracket's update with your scores!

We've got just under a day left to finish out this current round. Destil/MrBlarney and Red Hedgehog/gahitsu, looking forward to seeing your scores! If there are scheduling issues or you haven't had someone respond to your requests for a game, let me know and I'll go ahead and try to work something out.

I need to learn to go with boring, reliable money instead of getting cute with actions when it's the best option.

Luana

11-09-2010, 11:03 PM

That leaves us with gahitsu and Red Hedgehog! Good luck, you guys!

MrBlarney

11-09-2010, 11:35 PM

Good game, Destil. I'm surprised at how well my strategy performed. There just wasn't enough time for your strategy to pay off. Good luck in your next match!

Destil

11-09-2010, 11:39 PM

I think the biggest problem I had was thinking the mint was a treasury. I trashed some decent treasure without even realizing it, or taking advantage of it. Would have gone bishop/silver and attempted to just boil out everything but gold if I had been paying more attention.

MrBlarney

11-09-2010, 11:57 PM

I was deciding between Silver/Moneylender and Silver/Bishop at the start of the game and Moneylender won out. Torturer's Curse effect did concern me, and I did mean to pick up a Bishop later in the game just in case, but I never got around to it.

Remember, you have until 9pm on Friday, November 12 to complete your match. Happy VP-ing!

shivam

11-10-2010, 06:55 PM

woo, i won my (not)match!

Luana

11-10-2010, 07:08 PM

So I pulled out a win against widdershins (http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201011/10/game-20101110-190120-da3c8d4e.html.gz), booting him from the tourney. I actually thought he had it, because he started buying Provinces way before I did. However, I pulled a Tactician out of the Black Market deck, and thanks to some clever Masquerade-ing, beat him 31-25.

Now that I look at the bracket, I probably should have given byes to both shivam and Stiv in the first round so they could have their first match in this portion, and that way the person in my slot wouldn't get a bye during the upcoming round (for I would have played the loser of that potential match). Luckily, your prize isn't going to be anything crazy spectacular and this is a test tourney, so I don't feel so horrible! :P

Necronopticous

11-10-2010, 07:35 PM

MrBlarney and I played our match a few minutes ago. Good times were had, and I weaseled my way into another victory!

Read the game log and feel my despair. Damn those Mountebanks, damn those Minions, and damn King's Court!

tungwene

11-11-2010, 11:51 AM

I won Red Hedgehog and I's match (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14839182/tungwene_vs_redhedgehog.html). Luck played a large factor in our game. He drew a couple bad hands near the beginning and I Swindled his Coppers into Curses an unusually high number of times and hit a Duchy near the very end of the game.

Okay, dudes, I've got the bracket updated pre-shivam/spine battle. This isn't my computer so I can't spend too much time on it, so for now I'll leave you with the new deadline: Monday, November 15 at 9pm.

fugu13

11-14-2010, 03:17 PM

MrBlarney loses, but by less than a single province differential (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7318294/mrblarney.html). That was one of the cheapest sets of cards (both in terms of what was available, and what one would want to buy) I've ever seen.

Stiv bests Tungwene, 32-25 (http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201011/14/game-20101114-191558-b0dba08c.html.gz). This is possibly the first game I've played where VP chits were the deciding factor, rather than making it a blowout. Otherwise, it would've been a tie, and I got extremely lucky with that final swindle.

But it was a capital game! Thanks, tungwene!

tungwene

11-14-2010, 07:40 PM

Yeah it was a pretty crazy game. I've never seen Throne Room be this useful in a game before. I mean I've played games where it was a nice extra boost but in this game is critical to my ability to buy stuff many times.

the entire game was me watching him cycle laboratories into goons that emptied my hand, and then watching him buy platinums and colonies. about a third of the way through, the game was unwinnable for me. i was generating three monies to every 15 of his.

Necronopticous

11-17-2010, 04:18 PM

Ouch. Goons are very appropriately named. Those guys are motherfuckers.

Luana

11-17-2010, 06:49 PM

So the bracket is updated for now! In case I'm not home by the time Stiv and Necronopticous finish up their game (good luck to both of you, by the way!), here's the lowdown for the next round!

Basically, both Necronopticous and Stiv will get to relax for this round, for this one's reserved for the Second Chances bracket. We've got an exciting rematch between fugu13 and tungwene (this time, it's personal... again) and then pence and myself will face off!

The official deadline is 9pm PST on Friday, November 19, but if we can get through these last few matches quickly, we may even be able to crown a winner before the weekend is out! Let's go, everyone!

Necronopticous

11-17-2010, 07:38 PM

Stiv and I played our match. It was epic and quite terrifying to my person, but I managed to take the winner's bracket!

Saboteur really did a number on me that game, taking away all of my buying power. I thought I had it when I got your VP, but just couldn't get enough money going to get past 7 to really kick it into gear. Didn't help that festival/mining village combo never worked for me.

tungwene

11-18-2010, 04:36 PM

I has beaten (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14839182/tungwene_beats_fugu13.html) the pernicious poisonous puffer fish.

Luana and I had a big money fight, but my draws eked out a win on a close final turn.

Luana

11-18-2010, 08:13 PM

pence has taken me out of the tournament (http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201011/18/game-20101118-200434-5aea8f42.html.gz) in a game that's closer than it looks! With that, the current round comes to a close!

ROUND WHATEVER THIS IS: START

In this round, Necronopticous and Stiv get to wait in anticipation yet again (this is your punishment for being good at the game) while pence and tungwene get to see who advances toward the final round! Will tungwene get to face off against Stiv once again, or will pence get to test his mettle? We'll find out before 9pm PST on Saturday, November 20!

Luana

11-21-2010, 01:42 PM

I'm extending the deadline to Monday evening, since pence and tungwene did not finish their match in time. I'm going to be particularly lax this week about the matches, mainly because it's a holiday week and we've got people traveling and whatnot. If we can finish this up by Saturday, I'm going to consider that a victory for all. We're all winners! (except the people that lost. twice. which will be everyone except that one person.)

pence

11-22-2010, 06:44 PM

Tungwene bested me in a very close game full of some good interaction:

I'm extending the deadline to Monday evening, since pence and tungwene did not finish their match in time. I'm going to be particularly lax this week about the matches, mainly because it's a holiday week and we've got people traveling and whatnot. If we can finish this up by Saturday, I'm going to consider that a victory for all. We're all winners! (except the people that lost. twice. which will be everyone except that one person.)

*sulks in the corner*

Luana

11-23-2010, 09:07 PM

*sulks in the corner*

Sorry, gahitsu! I am bound to speak only the truth.

Anyway, congratulations to tungwene! Now you and Stiv get to have a rematch (you're all about the rematches this tourney, lady!) to see who gets to face off with Necronopticous in the final round! Who will prevail? We shall see sometime this week because not only is one of the contestants out of town, but it's a holiday and the weather's crazy and hey, this is all bold and red and MAY THE LUCK OF THE DRAW BE WITH YOU

Throughout this tournament, you've persevered against all of the odds, and it's all led up to this final battle. The two of you will face off in an epic battle to see who will be the master of Talking Time's dominion. Who will win? Only fate knows, and she's not telling.

It's the holidays, so there's not going to be a hard and fast deadline, but I would like to see this wrapped up before 9pm PST on Friday, December 17 so I can get the package out in the mail and such. I'm looking forward to congratulating one of you!